$W$-boson production in polarized proton-proton collisions at RHIC through next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD

Abstract

We perform a study of $W$-boson production in polarized proton-proton collisions through next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbative QCD. This calculation is required to extend the extraction of polarized parton distribution functions to NNLO accuracy. We present differential distributions at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV, relevant for comparison to measurements from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The NNLO QCD corrections significantly reduce the scale dependence of the cross section. We compare the longitudinal single-spin asymmetries as a function of lepton pseudorapidity to RHIC data. The asymmetries exhibit excellent stability under perturbative QCD corrections.

discussions expanded and references added; published version

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• NNLO Global Analysis of Polarized Parton Distribution Functions
• The full set of Polarized Deep Inelastic Scattering Structure Functions at NNLO accuracy
• NNLO jet production in neutral and charged current polarized deep inelastic scattering
• Parton-shower effects in polarized deep inelastic scattering
• Dijet Production in Neutral Current and Charged Current Polarized Deep Inelastic Scattering
• The Unresolved Behaviour of Polarized Scattering Matrix Elements at NNLO in QCD